strong women

Any girl can be glamorous, all you have to do is stand still & look stupid,” she once said.

Hedy Lamarr demolished the stereotype that Hollywood actresses are just their looks.

She was an actress during MGM’s “Golden Age” & starred in films like Lady of the Tropics, Boom Town & Samson & Delilah but she earned recognition in an entirely different field.

She received a patent for an idea of a radio signaling device to change radio frequencies to keep enemies from decoding messages – this became an important step in the development of technology to maintain security of military communications & cell phones.

She was honored the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award & became the 1st female to receive the ULBIE™ Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award, which is considered the Oscars of inventing.

How many Hollywood leading ladies can say they invented a “Secret Communications System”?

Fyi, her invention became a precursor to the secure wi-fi, GPS & Bluetooth so many of us use today!

Thank you Hedy for pushing the boundaries of how women are perceived, showing folks that women can do absolutely anything w/ hard work & determination & secure wi-fi (lol)!

the latest, break the mold movie from Amy Schumer, I Feel Pretty, premiered in theaters nationwide 4/20 & seems like it’s everything we expect from this fabulous badass woman!

it revolves around an insecure girl who bumps her head & wakes up thinking she’s a totally smokin’ hot, confident woman & how she changes based solely on her beliefs about herself.

this is the self-empowerment part of “know your beauty” on a screen. Schumer is a big part of a recent trend (so far mostly seen on TV w/ actresses, “of a certain age” getting juicy roles on TV shows they could never find in movie scripts) & leads the way in be your whole authentic self, define beauty on your own terms & believe it – the rest will follow! we haven ‘t seen changes in ads, marketing, modeling…yet – but we hope it’s coming! we love & thank you Amy!

& fyi, we’ve heard/seen some folks protesting this movie & feeling like is not empowering but ‘demeaning’, ‘negative,’ & ‘disgusting’ – this is a lack of digging or educating ourselves which creates misinformation!

these protestors don’t even know that this is a movie about empowerment & self-love, acceptance & the power of our minds to create our reality!

thank you for being fierce – never shying away from but accepting who she is, never attempting to fit other’s opinions of who she should be, & motivated to create opportunities for others to be their own advocates.

always beautiful, always outspoken, which takes huge cahones, always out in front of women’s issues, scrutinized & raked over the coals for decades, lived out her personal life in film (a little? a lot?)…a powerful feminist voice (& why is THIS a dirty word?) of my generation.

i am thankful i had role models like this that helped shape my notion of womanhood, of what i could do in the world, & prepped me for the nightmares ahead!

Anna Shpenova, from Saint Petersburg, Russia, became a firefighter at 25, & of course, nobody took her seriously, she was sent to extinguish burning garbage cans, etc.

but, she kept demanding to be placed on real crews to battle real fires, wore down commanding officer after commanding officer, & then proved herself to male peers, shattering the perception that only a man can put out a fire, receiving a medal for Heroism as a Firefighter on March 8th, for International Women’s Day.

Maya Angelou (1928 –2014) was a woman unafraid to live as boldly as she wrote. throughout her life she worked as a fry cook, opera singer, journalist, actress, director, civil rights leader, nightclub dancer & yes, a prostitute. of course, she was most famous for her plays, poetry & autobiographical writing.

although she was open about her past & the traumas she suffered, she never let herself be defined by them, or by the gender & racial labels that suffocated so many voices in her time. she won three Grammy awards for her spoken-word albums & her childhood autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings reveals the struggles of growing up black & female in the pre-Civil Rights era to new generations of high school students & other readers across the world.

Maya Angelou’s life was fearlessly far from “normal” & without a doubt amazing!

know me :-)

I’m Suki, the founder, president & formulator of the brand suki® skincare. I’m also a long-time professional freelance writer & competitive pro / am ballroom dancer—this year a U.S. finalist in the Open American Smooth & Standard styles.

I started suki® because I grew up suffering physically & mentally from eczema, a condition that sent me hiding under baggy clothes in the corner while being bullied & teased. these experiences, among many others in my past, gave me the drive to create my company & the strength to become the person I am growing into. like many people who grew up, let’s say, a bit out of the norm, & are lucky enough to find “their tribe” & the help I did early on—my experience made me more competitive, compassionate & creative. I’m also motivated to give back like I’ve been given to.

the most rewarding part of my day is receiving a letter from anyone who has been helped by what I've done. I’m also so lucky to work with the amazing people at Bay Path University, Breast Cancer Action & the Komera Project.

here, I’ll always speak the truth—no BS, no fluff. I’ll answer your questions & talk...anything...uncovering the reality of labels, challenging conventional wisdom, revealing the hidden world of cosmetics from my “insider” perspective. you'll see sometimes, that much of this biz of making people pretty isn’t pretty at all. but as you'll also see, I really mean my philosophy of “know your beauty”!